Oldham joins Baptist Surgical Associates
LOUISVILLE John S. Oldham Jr., MD, FACS, FASMBS, bariatric surgery, has joined Baptist Surgical Associates, along with Nurse Practitioners Sarah K. Kinser, APRN, and Jeannie C. Mattingly, APRN. Oldham is a 1995 graduate of the University of Louisville School of Medicine. He completed his general surgery residency at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, in 2000, serving as chief resident his final year. He is board certified in general surgery, and performs a variety of minimally-invasive weight-loss procedures.
Kinser is a 2011 graduate of the acute care nurse practitioner program at the University of Kentucky. She holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Kentucky, and will graduate from the Madisonville Community College certified surgical first assist program in May.
Mattingly is a 2011 graduate of the Spalding University acute care nurse practitioner program. She holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Spalding University.
Their office is located at 3900 Kresge Way, Suite 42. They are accepting new patients.
University Hospital named first Comprehensive Stroke Center in Kentucky, 20th in the U.S.
LOUISVILLE University of Louisville Hospital has become the first facility in Kentucky, and the 20th in the nation, to earn Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center (CSC) designation from The Joint Commission. CSC is the newest and highest level of Joint Commission certification for stroke centers; formerly, Primary Stroke Center certification was the most distinguished level, which University Hospital obtained in 2004.
CSC designations recognize those hospitals with the most advanced equipment, infrastructure and staff, and physicians, making it possible to treat complex stroke cases. University Hospital met those standards as determined by Joint Commission surveyors following a two-day site visit.
The impact of CSC certification will reach many cities in Kentucky considering 50 hospitals in western and central Kentucky and southern Indiana transferred patients to University Hospital’s Stroke Center from 2011–2012.
“Stroke is the fourth-leading cause of death and the leading cause of long-term adult disability in the United States. Additionally, Kentucky ranks above the national average in the prevalence of many stroke risk factors (high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, lack of exercise, obesity, high cholesterol),” said Kerri Remmel, Director of University Hospital’s Stroke Center. “Kentucky needs the best stroke care, and University Hospital becoming a Comprehensive Stroke Center is the next step in advancing that care in our region and state.”
A primary emphasis of CSC guidelines is to demonstrate collaboration between neurology and neurosurgical services. Though neurologists treat a vast majority of stroke patients at University Hospital, there are cases in which neurosurgical services are needed. The teamwork between the two is critical in managing complex stroke cases.
“University Hospital’s CSC designation signifies our commitment to providing multidisciplinary stroke care,” said Dr. Warren Boling, Chief of Neurological Surgery at University Hospital. “This means that our neurology and neurosurgical teams are working together to provide individualized stroke care. We are able to determine as a team which treatment is best for each patient.”
Kyprianou named to Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars
LEXINGTON Professor Natasha Kyprianou, the James F. Hardymon Chair in Urologic Research at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, has been elected to the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars.
The society was established in May 1967 by the trustees of the University to honor former Johns Hopkins postdoctoral fellows and junior or visiting faculty, who have subsequently achieved marked distinction in their field. Kyprianou was a postdoctoral fellow in Urologic Oncology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, from 1987–1990.
Kyprianou is a professor of urology, molecular and cellular biochemistry, pathology and toxicology. A leading investigator in prostate cancer research, she is internationally recognized for her critical contributions to the identification of apoptosis as a mechanism underlying therapeutic response of breast and prostate tumors to hormone treatment.
Commonwealth Cancer Center is now a part of the Ephraim McDowell family
DANVILLE Beginning April 1, 2013, Commonwealth Cancer Center will transition to Ephraim McDowell Commonwealth Cancer Center. The great care that patients have come to expect is now backed by a hospital nationally rated as one of the best for providing quality care.
In a 2012 survey, Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center was rated as one of the two best hospitals in central Kentucky for the quality of cancer treatment provided to patients. Combine that with the excellent physicians and professional medical staff currently providing care at Commonwealth Cancer Center, and Ephraim McDowell Commonwealth Cancer Center is positioned to become one of the best cancer diagnostic and treatment centers in the entire state.
Jewish Hospital receives Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award
LOUISVILLE Jewish Hospital, part of KentuckyOne Health, has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award, recognizing the facility’s commitment to and success in implementing excellent care for stroke patients, according to evidence-based guidelines.
The achievement award is based on continued high scores in a number of areas including: aggressive use of medications, such as antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, deep vein thrombosis prophylaxis, cholesterol reducing drugs and smoking cessation, all aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients, including risk-factor education.
In addition to the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke award, Jewish Hospital has also been recognized as a recipient of the association’s Target: Stroke Honor Roll, for the quick and effective administration of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), or clotbusting agent, within 60 minutes of arriving at the hospital (for eligible ischemic stroke patients.) These are the only drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the urgent treatment of ischemic stroke. If given intravenously within the first three hours after the onset of symptoms, tPA has been shown to significantly reverse the effects of stroke and reduce permanent disability.
Baptist Health announces two cardiology pilot programs
LOUISVILLE Baptist Health, the Louisville Cardiology Group (part of Baptist Medical Associates) and regional EMS services have formed a regional network to help ensure that patients experiencing a major heart attack are taken directly to the nearest properly equipped facility and receive a cardiac catheterization within the 90-minute national standard.
Two pilot programs were announced in late February to activate the Cath Lab from the ambulance. Activating the Cath Lab before arriving at the hospital cuts the patient’s risk of dying in half.
One pilot allows EMTs to perform electrocardiograms (now restricted to paramedics). If successful, this could improve heart attack care throughout Kentucky as many rural areas have few – if any – paramedics.
Alltech Symposium to Explore Major Human Health Challenges, Medical Advances of Next Seven Years
LEXINGTON Advances in medical science have extended life yet present humanity with a new set of challenges – diseases of old age. In addition, increasingly sedentary lifestyles add another layer of “modern” ailments to the mix, such as metabolic syndrome and Type 2 diabetes. The Life Sciences session at GLIMPSE 2020, the 29th Annual Alltech International Symposium in Lexington, Ky., USA, from May 19–22, will explore how lifestyle changes, genomics, diagnostics and nutrition can be merged to better manage and prevent the diseases of the modern era.
“We will have to take radical steps in the next decade if we hope to avoid twin pandemics: Alzheimer’s disease and Type 2 diabetes,” said Dr. Ronan Power, vice president of Life Sciences at Alltech and chairperson of the Life Sciences session at the 2013 Alltech Symposium. “A great deal of prevention can be achieved by convincing at-risk individuals to alter their behavior, for example, through diet and exercise. However, it’s likely that this approach will, at best, be only moderately effective so we have to look at the other tools we have at our disposal – early diagnosis and warning as well as direct biological intervention to counter the effects of poor lifestyle habits. Alltech’s 2013 Symposium will provide a forum for discussing these challenges with colleagues and leading experts.”
New in 2013, Alltech International Symposium delegates will have the opportunity to select breakout session tracks. These tracks, as opposed to traditional species or subject breakouts, will offer attendees a more holistic experience in which they take part in discussions ranging from algae and agriculture’s carbon footprint to nutrition and marketing.
For more information, or to request an invitation, contact a local Alltech representative, visit www.alltech.com/symposium or email symposium@alltech.com.
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